>> susie: president obama was in michigan today, campaigning on his plan to avert the fiscal cliff. speaking to union workers at the daimler detroit diesel engine plant, the president said he is willing to compromise "a little bit" with republicans on getting a plan for economic growth, job creation, and reducing the deficit. but he said he would not compromise on raising tax rates for high-income earners. >> and that's a principle i won't compromise on because i'm not going to have a situation where the wealthiest among us, including folks like me, get to keep all our tax breaks, and then we're asking students to pay higher student loans, or suddenly, a school doesn't have school books because the school district couldn't afford it. >> susie: meanwhile, a ranking democrat on the house budget committee tells "nightly business report" he is optimistic about getting a fiscal cliff deal by the end of they year. maryland congressman chris van hollen talked with our darren gersh, and began with an update on the status of the talks. >> well, the good news is that the president and the spe